Slacker... I know.

So... ummm yeah. I haven't blogged since July.

Of course, I have been saying oh I need to blog, in the back of my head. Honestly. I just know that I've been down in the dumps and didn't feel the need to share. So, I'm going to move past these last few days, weeks, months and start blogging again, hopefully on a more regular basis.

Since I've been out of work I've done my share of traveling. I spent some time in Wisconsin with my family there. I even managed to see some old high school friends... gosh I miss them!

When I returned from Wisconsin I was home for a few days and then I was on my way to Colorado. I spent some time there being my nieces nanny for 9 days before their school started. We did a ton of stuff... one day the girls and I went to a movie and shopping, a day at a fantastic zoo, a long round of mini golfing (I even got two holes in one!).

When I got back from Colorado it was time for me to tackle my resume. I'm working with a company who help with this transition in my life. I attended a workshop and learned a few things along the way.

Jerome and I ended up heading down South for a second time this summer, his grandmother passed away and we of course wanted to attend the funeral. I think I surprised Jerome when I managed to drive all the way to St. Louis there and back... heck I surprised myself! We had company in the car though.... JST and Tink came along with us for the ride. While we were there PST arrived with the newest addition to the clan, her son. It was so nice to hold a baby again :)

Jerome and I have become serious movie goers. Since we live in a metro area there are screenings of movies that are coming out about a week before. I never knew of these until recently when I did a little research. Boy oh boy have we taken in the flicks this year!

Tink turned two a few days ago and I was lucky enough to capture a few pictures of her the day before. If I do say so myself they turned out pretty good!





Laney, my goddaughter also turned two... check out her cute little pics on her mama's site!

What else....
I've also managed to rack up another godchild... but this time... A BOY! LOL. Anna, one of my bridesmaids has made Jerome and I the godparents of her son Jordan. That makes four for me! Wowsers! We haven't had his baptism yet... but soon.

I think that's about it for now... hope to post again real soon!

Happy Birthday Peanut!

Wow... one year has flew past yet again. Happy 1st Birthday Laney! Wish I could come and be there with you on your special day... sorry I can't. But I will see you in October, and then later in October I'm meeting up with your mama for a mama night out.

This picture is actually from Laney's baptism that her mama took of us.

Happy Birthday baby girl.

Your Fairy God Mama

I got the cutest email...

Hey

This is 'Laney! Yeah they call me 'Laney...I am not sure if I like it or not but what can a girl do?

'Tink you are coming to WI anytime soon! I wanna see you...I am getting to be a big kid...I wanna show you all my moves! :)

Here is a pic. of me at the park yesterday! I had a great time! :)

LOVE

Your God Daugther

DELANEY!

MWAH Laney :) Miss you...stop growing so fast for your mommy's sake!
Your Fairy God Mommy :)

Monty's Gone Wild...

Sorry, I had to!

The Monty Crew showed up on our doorstep on Friday night... with four sleepy kids and two adults who shoulda had a drink. Jerome and I had small conversations with each adult at one point... then poof they were gone... into rooms to attempt to get children asleep. We had Delaney under control in the living room.

Saturday I awoke to the sound of some little footsteps or something. I noticed that the door to downstairs was opened... there was Andy and Miles... hangin out. I joined them for a bit... then came Trisha and Delaney and Dawson. Then Jerome. The only one missing... Mads.

I went upstairs to cook breakfast - pancakes and sausage links. We all ate. Trisha was wanting to go to Target and the Dollar Tree... she had mentioned wanting to get bins for the shelf that Andy just built.... got me thinking of Storables. We made our way over there... ohhhhh I love this store... I need to get there more often!

We found these bins and tossed one in her cart. She wanted to get the Crew's approval before buying all the ones that she needed. We headed to Target and picked up some groceries and then off to Dollar Tree. All that in two hours. Whew!

When we returned we had pizza for lunch. The guys, Jerome and Andy left for Burnsville to go to a wood working shop... Me thinks Jerome will be going back there some day!

When they got home we hung out for a bit and then started on dinner. We grilled out - brats, burgers, and hot dogs. Baked beans, carrots and ranch dip too. It was delish.

The Crew stayed until Sunday morning. There was a brief episode when the eggs wouldn't cook on the burner for me... which then ended with me running to Walmart for more eggs. The Crew packed up and took off back home.

I'm surprised at how well Pork Chop handled all the kids being in his space. And Dawson took such a liking to him... even feeding him some Cheetos and sticking his tiny fingers in his mouth and pulling his cheeks. Such a good puppy. He didn't eat much though... that is until life was back to normal in our house. He's pack to nipping at me and doing naughty naughty naughty things with his Multipet Terry Loofa toy.

It's officially winter..

I got my first bloody nose of the season... making me realize that winter is officially here. I'll be pulling out the humidifiers to bring some moisture into our air here in the house... now I just wish I had a personal size one for work... maybe Santa will bring this for me.

The Monty Crew

Here goes, my first blog roll...

Name of site: The Monty Crew

Why I visit: Trisha, the mom of the site, is my best friend from grade school – yes grade school. We’ve been thru thick and thin together… okay maybe I was never thin but you get my drift! She was the Matron of Honor at my wedding and I’m the God Mother of her last little peanut Delaney. It keeps me updated on her and her family and reminds me of life “outside of the city”. She tells about her family – her hubby and four kids.

Why you should visit: Well I assume sooner or later there will be some horrible picture of us posted there… don’t get any ideas Susha!

Meet and Greet

We had Jerome's mom in town this past week. She was here visiting JST and Tinker and helping her learn about being a mom. It was good to see her again!

We took her to the airport on Saturday and headed our way to Wisconsin for a meet and greet with Delaney. She such a cutie. We brought her a present to welcome her into this big ol world.

We will be heading back to see her again in November for her baptism, but we will see her parents a few weekends before that. Yup, the Monty Crew adults are coming to our shin dig!!! Yeah!

She's here! She's here!

No, it's not JST's baby... but with the mad dash to the finish line coming in first place is Delaney! My god daughter arrived into the world yesterday at 6:21 pm.

Get more details from her mom at The Monty Crew.

A quick Sconnie Trip

Friday night we set the alarm clock to wake us up around 4:45 am. Yes, that's right on a SATURDAY! Jerome woke up some time around 4 am and started his shower. Once he was ready he woke up the bear, I mean me, and tossed me in the shower. We were headed to Sconnie for the day/night mainly to pick up our wedding photo album.

We left around 5 am and saw the sun starting to rise - that's the first time in a long time for me. And it was such a red sky that got me thinking of Dad's old sailor saying... red sky at night sailors delight, red sky in morn sailors be warned.



We stopped for breakfast at McDonald's after I woke up from my sleep and also to fill up the tank. We were back on our way and made it to my parents house around 9 am.

Once we were there I immediately went into the photos. Ughhhhh! There was no picture of us with Anna, there was the black and white photo of Jerome that turned out way grainy, there was one of me and my family that when blown up didn't fit that framing of the page thus white strips around the photo - ummm no... fake the wall and carpet or crop it different! Not to mention all of the ones that were out of focus! And then our large wall photo had totally different coloring from the same photo that was in our book. What the heck?

I will say it again, never do business with Together Photography. Their customer service sucks. Their contract is worded funny, and they chose to pick out our photos - even the blurry ones! Ugh.

So, I took the book and Jerome and I headed down to their shop. Of course, no one was there because it's a Saturday and they are out taking awful pictures of someones wedding. So I called my mom to have her look up the phone number for their New London location, perhaps someone would be there. Nope, that number isn't listed. Grrrr. So I called the owner at her home - but she didn't answer either. I left a message at their location in town saying I wasn't please with my photos and that I am only in town today and tomorrow, that someone should contact me asap.

With that said and done we left and went to The Monty Crew's house for lunch. We had planned to BBQ for lunch, but before that Jerome and Andy were going to build some shelving units for Delaney and Maddee's room while Trisha and I were going to head off to Target for some baby food that was 2 cents a jar.

On our way there though, my phone rang. It was Jerome's daughter JST who is due in September with Jerome's first grand baby. She was having some tightening and she thought contractions. Oh boy. Ends up it was nothing out of the ordinary and the baby is still inside for the time being!

Trisha, Baby M and Baby D and I left for Target. Funny thing happened... we ran into my sister P, brother-in-law J and their kids MJM and GWM. Too funny. They were off to buy glue sticks for MJM's first school year in kindergarten. We split ways and headed to the baby section.

I asked Trisha what Delaney needed, since you know, she's already got three kids! Apparently crib sheets are in order. Can do. Next. ;)

We headed to baby food land and stocked the cart. We headed for the check out and the cashier flicked her light on and called a manager over. Apparently Target's coupon won't work at her Target... how annoying. We even spoke with a manager who said that "corporate" sent out a statement that said to limit people to two coupons... COME ON! Needless to say, I'll be trying at my Target here in the cities.

When we got back the guys were wrapping up the shelving unit and we started the food. It was delish! My compliments to the chefs :) We hung out for a bit longer as I got my baby fix knowing the next time I see Baby D he won't like me, but then again there will be a new Baby D that will "hafta" like me!

We headed home and ate dinner with the family. Mashed potatoes, caramel carrots, beef roast... YUM! Then it was time for cards. PJM, mom and I played 500 solitaire. Mom ended up in first place, I got 2nd and PJM... well she lost. And then PJM and I played 100 solitaire and I won. Yippy!

We woke up the next morning and took showers. We came downstairs and said that the clock in the bedroom doesn't keep time... since it was 11am and the clock said 9am! Jeeze! We had breakfast and then hopped in the car for home. We planned to take the long way home so that we could stop at our favorite cheese factory - too bad they aren't open on SUNDAYS :( Grrrr.

So we kept heading the long way instead of turning around. We went through Green Bay when Jerome said something about taking a picture of Lambeau field. Why taking a moving picture, instead we went and actually went inside. It was first trip inside the stadium... you could totally feel the love. We hopped back in the car and were on our way when someone stated that he should have found the bathroom before leaving. So we made a pit stop for an ice cream cone and potty break at the McDonald's down the street from the stadium - it was even decked out in Packer attire!

We drove home and ended up stopping at our other cheese factory stop for some curds and a brick of cheese - and gas and switching of drivers. Once we were in the cities we stopped for dinner. We unpacked the car after and then Jerome left to see how JST was doing. All is good as far as we know now.

A long weekend... finally!

So Jerome and I took off of work on Friday so that we could meet with our photographer back in "Sconnie". We left Thursday night and rolled into town around 9 or so.

Friday we met with that "fantastic" photographer... ughhh. Needless to say, it was irritating being there. I have the feeling that my tiny home town will soon have a life size mirrol of my husband on the walls of the local photography place just because he's not pasty white. Yup I said it. I also think that the reason why the lady is so short with us is because she really doesn't like the "idear" of us being married... me being of the pasty white variety. I also think that the actual photographer that we had was "building her portfolio" with Jerome's family... thus why we only had two pictures of our groomsmen with Jerome. Yup... I said it.... and I won't take it back unless I'm proven wrong.... but she was defiantly building her portfolio.... there is no way to deny that one.

After that we hung out at my Mom and Dad's and then headed over to The Monty Crews place. We were just in time to catch a glimpse of Mads... what a cutie pie. And of course Miles was trailing behind his Momma... I went inside to find little Dawson upset because everyone had left him. I picked him up and thought back to the last time I held him... met him. He was a "fresh, new baby"... only about a week or two old when The Monty's came to visit us and head to a concert while Jerome and I babysat the kidlets. He's so big!

While we were there Susha asked if I would be Delaney's "fairy godmother"... I mean God Mother. Of course I said yes and will try my best to fulfill my required duties of being at as many events as I can.... wooohooo... God Baby # 3!!!!

Momma Monty (Trisha) and Papa Monty (Andy) along with Miles and Dawson went with Jerome and I to take in some wings at The Bar. It was Double Bubble so there was some great Margaritas for Jerome and I. Then we headed to a cute little coffee shop where a friend of the Monty's had a gig. We ended up back at their house and watched a movie and then left out.

Saturday we hung around Mom and Dad's and visited with my sister and her family. That night Mom, PJM and I played a fun game of Triple Solitaire while Jerome watched some crazy shows... maybe they weren't crazy but the sounds of them sure were since we couldn't take our eyes off the board in fear of loosing!

Sunday we headed back home. It was nice to be back home. I worked in the garage a bit to get ready for the garage sale that is quickly approaching. I priced some stuff... and still have two or three boxes yet to price that is out in the garage. We were planning on seeing Pirates while we were out of town and didn't get around to doing that.

Monday we went to Anna's for a BBQ in the afternoon. We decided we would go see Pirates for a matinee and left. I asked Jerome if he thought JST would like to go and he thought she may. We headed over to see if she wanted to go... but then our plans were changed when she stepped out of the door. Oh what a belly she is getting! We had to take her to buy some clothes that would cover her expanding baby belly... so still no pirates. We headed home and thought about what we would do for dinner.

Lisa called me and asked if we wanted to come over for a BBQ that she and her soon to be hubby (in 4 count them 4 days) we starting. But of course! The only thing was that I had to work on Tuesday as did she. We ended up not leaving their house until way past my bed time for a "school" night. Boy was I tired this morning.... so tired that I had to crawl my butt back into bed for two more hours before heading to work after I sent an email to my co-workers. Ugh.

This week I've got a few things that I need to accomplish:

• I need to get my "bridal emergency bag" together... you know all the possible things that could go wrong which hopefully never do on the wedding day... nail polish, sewing kit, band aids, etc etc since Lisa and Rod's wedding is this weekend.
• Write my Matron of Honor toast... yep... just like when I had a report due for school... waiting till the very last minuet!
• Pedicure with my Hubby on Friday
• Get Jerome's suit all set once he finds all the pieces
• Get all of my items ready for the wedding

Whew! Thank goodness I'm off on Friday and can put some of these things off until then.